The Kansas City Symphony Alliance is pleased to announce the selection of the home to be featured as the Symphony Designers’ Showhouse for 2015. The home is located at 96 Janssen Place in Kansas City, Missouri, and will be open from Saturday, May 9 through Sunday, June 7. This house is the same home which was featured as the Symphony Designers’ Showhouse in 2000, fifteen years ago. It is owned by the same owner, who remembers fondly the outstanding experience of having this home featured as the Symphony Designers’ Showhouse back then, and is willing to allow KCSA to feature it once again.

The spacious three-story home features nine bedrooms and four baths, and has many desirable design areas for the pleasure of our outstanding interior designers.

This home at 96 Janssen Place in Kansas City, Missouri will be featured as the 46th Symphony Designers’ Showhouse.

Here are the key Symphony Designers’ Showhouse dates for 2015:

Hard Hat Volunteer Sign Up Event on Saturday, February 28 from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Come and be among the first to see the house, and sign up to help work some shifts to make this year’s Symphony Designers’ Showhouse successful.

Public Preview Weekend is March 7 and 8, from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. on Saturday and from noon to 5:00 p.m. on Sunday.

Designers’ Toast Party, Patrons’ Party and Ribbon Cutting is Friday, May 8 in the evening (exact time to be announced).

Symphony Designers’ Showhouse Opens on Saturday, May 9 at 10:00 a.m. It closes on Sunday, June 7 at 5:00 p.m.

Showhouse hours are from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays. On Thursdays the Showhouse is open until 8:00 p.m. On Sundays the Showhouse is open from noon until 5:00 p.m. The Showhouse is closed on Mondays. Private party opportunities are available in the evenings and on Mondays, so contact us if you would like to have a private party at the Showhouse!

The Symphony Designers’ Showhouse Committee of KCSA is busily working on the schedule for the Hard Hat Party and other pre-opening events, and will making announcements soon, so watch this space for further details. The exact dates of the Symphony Designers’ Showhouse have not yet been announced, but will be soon.

August (Augie) Bogina, Jr. is the Chair of this year’s Symphony Designers’ Showhouse Committee. The other members of this Committee are:

Designer Chair – Janis Downs

Budget – Peggy Jacobson

Historian – Beverly Shaw

Marketing and Speakers Bureau – Tracey Hawkins

Music – Jan Miller

Private Parties – Barbara & Jim Holzmark

Program Book – Sandy Carolan

Secretary – Karen Hodson

Tickets – Patty Bibler and Annette Szulc

School Tours – Helen Miller

Donations – Georgia Klein and Karen Hodson

Public Preview – Joy McNeese and Gloria Connealy

Hard Hat – Nancy Johnson

Coffeehouse – Cathy Bossert

House Operations – Kim Martincich

Boutique – Barbara Bloch

Showhouse Search – Kim Martincich

Advisor – Karen Hardcastle

Thank you to all of these dedicated Committee chairs, and to the members of their committees, for making the Symphony Designers’ Showhouse possible.

All KCSA members and their guests are invited to the Spring Membership Meeting of KCSA to be held on Tuesday, February 17 at 6:00 p.m. at Country Club Congregational Church, 65th Street and Brookside Plaza, Kansas City, Missouri, which is across the trolley trail from 65th and Wornall Road. Enter from the south door of the church.

The membership meeting will be a chili supper, just the thing to warm you during the cold winter months. Potato soup will also be offered, along with appetizers, salads and desserts. KCSA members will hear a presentation from Kathy Hanis of Entertainment Plus, who is the public relations expert who assists KCSA in publicizing the Symphony Designers’ Showhouse each year. She is the one who helps obtain all of the great press coverage in The Kansas City Star and other print media, and who also arranges television station interviews and the like.

Watch for your invitation coming soon by e-mail, and please RSVP to the invitation to let us know you are coming, to assist us in planning the correct amount of food. We hope to see you there!

Two projects of the Kansas City Symphony Alliance (KCSA) recently received national recognition from the League of American Orchestras (LAO), an organization of symphonic orchestra organizations throughout the United States. The projects received the “Gold Book” award from LAO, which is given to those projects of volunteer auxiliaries of symphony orchestras “to highlight volunteer organizations’ activities and provide innovative examples for other volunteer organizations to adapt and follow.”

The two KCSA projects which received the Gold Book award are:

The Symphony Designers’ Showhouse, the main annual fundraising project of KCSA to benefit the Kansas City Symphony. Last year’s Symphony Designers’ Showhouse, the 45th in the long run of such projects, attracted over 7,000 visitors and raised over $80,000 for the Symphony.

The Massive Wine Raffle, a new project last year which was held at the Symphony Designers’ Showhouse. KCSA collected a total of 72 bottles of wine, and presented them for display in a large wine rack in the Boutique area of the Showhouse. Raffle tickets were sold for just $10 apiece, and the winner of the raffle received the entire collection of 72 bottles. Over 500 people purchased $10 tickets for the chance to win 72 bottles of wine, and the total amount raised from the Massive Wine Raffle exceed $5,000.

In addition to these two KCSA projects, two other Kansas City Symphony auxiliaries also received Gold Book recognition from the League of American Orchestras. The Kansas City Symphony League received an award for its hosting of the Symphony Ball, and the Kansas City Symphony Guild received an award for its Intermezzo project.

The Kansas City Symphony Alliance will host an exciting daytime backstage tour of the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts in Kansas City on March 6. Details will be forthcoming, but circle that date on your calendars and please make sure to join us! Patty Bibler is in charge of this event.

Also, the KCSA Annual Meeting will be held on Saturday, June 8 from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. at the Gaslight Grill at 5020 West 137th Street (between Roe and Nall Avenues) in Leawood, Kansas. Judy Barackman and Vandra Solomon are the Vice Presidents of KCSA in charge of Membership, and are organizing the Annual Meeting.

Cathy Radek, the chair of the Symphony Shop, asks all KCSA members to pitch in and help out at the Symphony Shop this winter and spring. January marks the beginning of the busy season at the Symphony Shop as many concerts are scheduled during the next several months. She and her able assistant Melissa Green, the immediate past chair of the Symphony Shop, have purchased a number of unique gift and music-related items for the pleasure of our shoppers. So far this year, the Shop has attracted record sales!

Shown at the Kauffman Center during one of the Christmas Festival concerts in December are Symphony Shop workers Vandra Solomon, Cathy Radek (chair), Don Dagenais and Melissa Green.

Working at the Symphony Shop is lots of fun, as the attached photo will attest. It’s easy…just sign up for a shift with Volunteer Matters, the KCSA volunteer organization web site. Then you will get reminders of your Symphony Shop assignments. Come in around 5:30 or 6:00 the evening of your shift (earlier on Friday would be appreciated, as that’s set-up day for the weekend), help out our shoppers, and possibly even attend the concert if tickets are available!

Cathy Radek can answer your questions. Her contact information is found on our Board of Directors page. We look forward to seeing you at the Symphony Shop!

A picture of KCSA’s prize winning booth at the Missouri Meetings and Events Expo.

KCSA hosted a booth at the annual regional Missouri Meetings and Events Expo held this year in Kansas City. The September event was held at the downtown Marriott. The Private Parties Committee Co-Chairmen, Jim and Barbara Holzmark, hosted the booth and met with companies that requested an informational meeting to learn about the Showhouse as an event venue.

Barbara Holzmark and Dick Klein of KCSA are shown at the Missouri Meetings and Events Expo.

Dick Klein, Augie Bogina and Tracey Hawkins accompanied the Holzmarks for the networking event the evening before the Expo. The Holzmarks attended the breakfast and got an opportunity to meet the new Visit KC President and CEO, Ronnie Burt, as well as hear other meeting and event industry-related speakers.

Past Showhouse designer Karen Linville, accompanied by her builder, created the booth display (which can be used again). The KCSA booth won the Planner’s Choice Award for a first-time booth that went above and beyond typical design.

Barbara and Jim Holzmark are shown with the plaque for representing the winning KCSA booth.

Jim and Barbara Holzmark each won a door prize at the MIssouri Meetings and Event Expo.

This was a public relations event designed to get the word out in the business community about the availability of the Showhouse as an event venue. The event was attended by other venue locations, as well as planners seeking to learn about available locations for their meetings and events. The Holzmarks plan to aggressively build KCSA’s private party business utilizing their business backgrounds, networking and a sales plan.

In addition, the Holzmarks each won door prizes as shown in the photo at left. Congratulations and thanks to Jim and Barbara!

The Kansas City Symphony Alliance (KCSA) held its annual Holiday Luncheon on Saturday, December 6, at the Grand Street Cafe in Lenexa, Kansas. Our members heard about the organization’s activities so far this year and enjoyed the camaraderie of the membership.

Members of KCSA heard President Dick Klein discuss the recent activities of the group at the Holiday Luncheon on December 6.

Debbie Clark, Kansas City Symphony harpist, performed a series of classical selections including holiday music, and the members also enjoyed the opportunity to shop for holiday items and gifts at our Symphony Shop.

Shown here is KCSA President Dick Klein making announcements at the luncheon. Our many thanks to Membership chairs Judy Barackman and Vandra Solomon for organizing the luncheon, and to membership committee member Susan Hangauer for arranging the Symphony soloist and for helping out. We hope you were able to join us!

On October 25 KCSA held an orientation session for new KCSA members at the Livestock Exchange Building in the Kansas City Stockyards. The session included a tour to some of the interesting areas of the building.

Thanks to Membership Vice-Presidents Vandra Solomon and Judy Barackman for putting together this event. Be sure to welcome these new KCSA members at our Holiday Luncheon on December 6, and whenever you see them at KCSA or Symphony events! We are delighted that they have joined us.

KCSA had a wonderful inaugural performance of its Rising Symphony Stars event on October 5. The evening featured a full course dinner at the Marriott Country Club Plaza hotel, along with interspersed performances by some of the outstanding young musicians who have been finalists in the Kansas City Symphony’s Young Artist Competition.

Over 140 people attended and enjoyed outstanding string and piano performances, along with a delicious dinner and a successful fund raising raffle.

Our thanks to President-Elect Sylvia Brush who was the chair of the event, and to her entire committee who worked so hard to make Rising Symphony Stars a success. Here are a few photos from this event. Keep in mind that if you missed this one, you can catch next year’s Rising Symphony Stars at around this same time of year. Watch for it!

The Marriott Plaza Hotel ballroom was full at Rising Symphony Stars.

The six young performers who played at Rising Symphony Stars took a bow at the end of the evening.

Ruth Holszschuh, John Turner, Chaeyoung Park, Marylou Turner and Don Dagenais enjoyed the reception before the dinner and performances.

A string quartet of young players entertained the audience.

Karen Hardcastle, her daughter Madelyn and Judy O’Brien at the reception.

Several new members of KCSA joined us for our Fall Membership Meeting on September 16 at the Country Club Congregational Church. They are shown in these photos; be sure to welcome them the next time you see them.

KCSA passed its 2014-15 budget at the Fall Membership Meeting thanks to the hard work of our Treasurer, Peggy Jacobson, and the members of her Budget Committee. The members also enjoyed a wonderful presentation from Symphony first violinist Alex Shum, who told about his boyhood and training in his native Hong Kong and his adventures in this country and how he ended up with a career in the Kansas City Symphony. We appreciated the wonderful insights and terrific stories, as well as his enchanting playing, including a solo violin version of Mozart’s Ein Kleine Nachtmusik. Thanks, Alex!

Janet Allton, Sandy Juluan and Diane Hanson joined KCSA.

These new KCSA members are Linda Skaith and Beth Farleigh.

Alex Shum, a first violinist with the Kansas City Symphony, treated the KCSA members to a special private concert.